Smells like Back to School

I think I have an addiction...to school supplies.  I know that my love for school supplies began with my first cardboard school box.  I remember for many years during elementary school getting into my new school supplies to organize them in my cardboard school box.  I loved the feel, smell, and excitement that the new school year brought.  I still to this day enjoy it!  I am probably the only person that while in graduate school still got excited for new pens and notebooks.  I often joke that I got into education for the supplies.

During the past few weeks the stores have been stocking their back to school aisles.  For many this signals the sad end to a short summer.  For me it signals the excitement of a new semester.  I truly understand the whole academic calendar idea...for me a new year truly does begin in August.  I have been picking up a few items that I might need for the new semester.  My kids groaned when I finally got my hands on a supply list for their district.  For the most part I had all the supplies on hand for my new 3rd grader.  I was disappointed that my new 7th grader is list-less...time has come to determine his own needs and sadly he does not share the "supply gene" of his mother.  I was also made fun of because I stocked up on tape for my label maker so my kids supplies can be beautifully labeled...well at least the 3rd grader...I have learned that it is embarassing for all your supplies to be labeled when you get to junior high.  On the same note we are only shopping for one new lunch box...junior high kiddos brown bag it. 

I suppose I should squeeze the last few drops out of my summer vacation...and I will...but I will be on the look out for cool post-it notes and stickers (yes, my college students still get stickers).  I will be posting more as my semester begins...signaling a new year to "wake up and smell the crayons."

Smells of Summer...from the nose of a child!

I am a smelly person...let me restate that...I am a person who identifies with smells around me.  I am the person who stands in the health and beauty aisle at Target and smells 10 bottles of shampoo before I can make my choice.  I can catch a whiff of Victoria's Secret Vanilla shower gel and be transported to my summer in England.  While I was enjoying my third day of my summer vacation a smell wafted through the backyard and took me back to simpler times...the smell...honeysuckle.  I started thinking about when my identification with smells began...I have to believe that my love of certain smells began in childhood...which made me think of my favorite summer smells that take me back to those easy breezy summer days as a kid.  So here are my favorite summer scents in no particular order:

1. honeysuckle
2. cotton candy--freshly made...not the bagged kind
3. firework smoke
4. incoming rainstorm
5. fresh cut grass
6. hamburgers/hot dogs cooking on the grill
7. dust from:  drive in movie or ballpark
8. chlorine--not a favorite smell but it evokes good feeling
9. sunscreen--particularly thick goopy zinc oxide--layered right on the nose
10. peonies
11. lemonade
12. Popsicles

I am sure my list could go on and on...but my time is short this evening...I get to go and enjoy some of my favorite smells while at the little league ballpark tonight!

Starting Small

Today my early childhood curriculum class finished watching "Starting Small" a video about teaching tolerance in early childhood classrooms.  I just wanted to share the link and the idea behind this program.  The program is available free to educators from Teaching Tolerance--A Project of the Southern Poverty Law Center http://www.tolerance.org/ (temporarily out of stock).  Though the program is more than 10 years old it still has wonderful ideas about how children learn about how to live in our society.  The video makes me smile, laugh, and tear up all in the same hour.  I highly recommend this program. 

Along the same idea of helping children learn about themselves and others is another great resource for early childhood educators...one of my favorite books...Roots and Wings--Affirming Culture in Early Childhood by Stacey York.

Preschool Planner or Hoarder?

My experiences as an early childhood teacher have turned me into a semi-hoarder.  For the past few weeks I have been assisting the clean out of the storage cabinets and drawers in the preschool and it has helped me come to the conclusion that early childhood people hoard things.  We don't hoard in the sense that we are going to get a documentary show dedicated to us...but we are hoarders all the same...actually I would watch a show like that because it would give me ideas on what I need to "save" for preschool use.  Those of us in the field have even trained our significant others to watch out for the good stuff for us...my husband has held up empty food container and asked if I needed it for school...the receiving office on campus has called to see if I wanted the boxes that held the music department's new tubas...mmmmm....yes please! 

Early childhood people are not typically listed on the Fortune 500 list...so we may be a little on the frugal side.  I actually find it thrilling to come up with new uses for what others may think of as "crap".  I have a workshop presentation that I frequently do at conferences that is dedicated to creative ideas that can be done with inexpensive items...often junk or recycled items.  I also come from the school of people who like to make games and activities for kids...that way it targets exactly what I want it to.  While I was looking through a Lakeshore catalog the other day I actually marked a page with a sticky note that read "make this".  As an opening activity in my curriculum course I take in a bag of random items and have my class brainstorm things they could do with the items in a preschool classroom.  It is a fun activity that opens our eyes to the possibilities that ordinary items hold.  My student teachers have fully caught the preschool hoarding bug because they are forever asking each other to save water bottles and toilet paper tubes.  I feel that I am doing my small part in saving the environment by encouraging hoarding by future early childhood professionals.  Plus...now all the money that they will be making (ha, ha) they can tuck under their mattress because they can teach for cheap!

Rainy Day + Leftover Easter Candy = Tired Preschool Teachers

Everyday I pass by a book on my file cabinet at work titled "Never, Ever Serve Sugary Snack on a Rainy Day" by Shirley Raines (love how her last name fits the book title and I love the messages in the book).  Anyways...it is the day after Easter and we have been dealing with a crazy amount of rain here in the Midwest...so what should preschool teachers expect on a stormy Monday after Easter? 

1. Kids are always tired the day after a holiday because of the unusual schedules that accompany family holiday events...therefore...they will be grumpier than a normal Monday.
2. The day after a thunderstorm the kids are also tired because they didn't sleep well the night before with all the thunder, lightning and candy basket guarding.
3. Someone is bound to have a tummy ache the day after and candy filled holiday--Halloween, Valentine's Day, and Easter.  It is probably a good idea to avoid vomit inducing activities on the day after a sugar holiday--spinning of any kind should be avoided.  Snacks and meals served to preschoolers on during their candy-hangover should be bland on taste and color.
4. In order to keep up with the kids it is always a good idea for preschool teachers to keep a steady flow of sugar (and/or caffeine) in their own diet following a holiday...it also helps prevent the inevitable sugar crash especially if said teacher has overindulged in his or her own candy basket. 
5. If preschool teachers have their own children at home they also did not sleep well because of imported campers in their beds or on their bedroom floor.
6. If teachers do not have their own children...rainy Mondays after a sugar buffet typically make it really, really hard to get out of bed which equals tired, sluggish zombie teachers. 
7. Sometimes preschoolers "forget" about rules over a regular weekend...expect this slip of memory times four after a holiday weekend...the kids have been indulged by many people and who could blame them for trying to keep it going at preschool?

My list could continue but I would rather focus on positive things for the rest of the evening.  But...one last thought...could you name three things that would make a rainy Monday after Easter even worse?  Birthday cupcakes with blue icing, a surprise visit from the licensing representative, and a fire drill.

Dandelion Cookies

Spring is here and so are my favorite yellow "flowers"...dandelions!  What preschool age kid doesn't love to pick these little golden gems?  Each spring when I was in my classroom I would make dandelion cookies with my kiddos...I cannot even begin to remember where the recipe came from or else I would give proper credit...most likely a Mailbox magazine circa 1996. 

Today in my college level preschool/kindergarten curriculum class we were talking about "cooking" in the classroom and all the wonderful skills and concepts that children gain from such experiences. So...my "big" girls made their own dandelion cookies today.  Here is what you need:  vanilla wafers, white frosting, coconut flakes, and yellow food coloring is optional.  You can tint the frosting and coconut yellow to resemble fresh dandelions or you can leave it white to resemble dandelions that are ready to "blow".  They are simple to make--spread icing on a few vanilla wafers and dip icing side into coconut.  I remember pigging out on the leftovers at naptime back in the day...I have leftovers in my office fridge right now calling my name. 

Fashion Victim or Early Childhood Teacher

Why has working with little kids has changed my ideas about fashion?  Long ago in my undergraduate program my favorite college professor and later mentor mentioned that you can always tell who taught early childhood by their macaroni and wooden bead necklaces.  I laughed as did most of the class...then years later I found myself wearing a food coloring dyed ziti necklace that was strung on rainbow colored yarn.  I always wanted to be the "cute" teacher...sweaters or vests (egads...that dates me) to match the seasons or holidays...I managed to have most of the mainstream holidays covered about a year into my first teaching job.  I owned socks that matched almost every theme I did in my classroom...my favorite were my farm socks that matched the wooden barn pin that I would wear on a red plaid jumper...with white Ked's type tennis shoes...Stacy and Clinton would haved bashed me in three way mirror.  I don't dress this way anymore...nor have I even dug out pictures to show my students what will eventually happen to them. 

I have learned a few fashion tips along my journey:

1. Forget about wearing black pants--children will runny noses will leave glistening trails of snot on your legs when hugging you.
2. Don't wear light colors or white...lesson learned carrying an easel painting to the drying rack when the gust of a running preschooler caused the painting to "fly" into the front of a white and yellow daisy printed jumper...some paint washes out better than others...unfortunately I found out which colors don't.
3. Keep different shoes around for the playground...I was teased by colleagues that I looked like Mr. Rogers when I changed my shoes before going outside...but playground dust can be deadly to cute shoes.
4. Consider keeping an extra set of clothing around...just in case...however if someone pukes on you sometimes it just feels better to go home and sanitize yourself before putting on your extra clothes...and chances are like the kid's extra clothes...you might be missing essential pieces or they are now too small.